OJR school board extends school year to June 13 to make up for snow days

SOUTH COVENTRY — Despite experiencing 10 snow days and numerous two-hour delays this winter, the Owen J. Roberts School Board approved a revised 2013-14 school calendar that will end school by June 13 — only two days beyond the originally proposed final day.

There are two reasons why district students won’t be attending classes until June 18 or even later, according to Superintendent Michael Christian.

For one thing, the district has converted into school days multiple days originally scheduled as holidays and breaks. The other is something called Act 80 exceptions from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

At a meeting Monday, the school board unanimously agreed to request from the Pennsylvania Department of Education approval of instructional hours that will enable the district to use professional development days and parent-teacher conferences as instructional time.

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State law requires schools to be open for 180 days of instructional time. The law also mandates a minimum number of instructional hours, set at 990 for secondary students, 900 for elementary and full-day kindergarten students, and 450 for half-day kindergarten.

According information put out by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Act 80 authorizes the secretary of education to grant exceptions to the 180-day requirement as long as a school district meets the minimum number of instructional hours. Students don’t need to be in school during all those hours, but the district must devote that time to student instruction.

Activities that count toward an Act 80 exception include parent-teacher conferences, curriculum planning and development and “in-service programs dealing with new subjects or activities having an impact on the educational program,” among others.

The board has requested Act 80 approval for eight curriculum development staff in-service days to be counted as full student days. Those include two days at the beginning of the school year, Aug. 27 and 28; three days at the end of the school year, June 18, 19 and 20; two parent-teacher conference days in November that were half-days for students; and a Feb. 7 in-service day.

One parent attending the meeting objected to the request for exceptions. Bob Rasmussen told the board he would prefer to see students attending classes later in June rather going to school fewer than 180 days.

“These folks here are going to be in the global economy,” he said of the students. “I don’t think any reduction in instructional time is appropriate. In my opinion, it sends a message that instructional time is important until it’s not.”

However, after the meeting Christian noted that the idea behind requesting the exceptions was not to skirt the 180-day requirement, but to ensure that students are provided with the most meaningful instructional time. Holding classes late in June, while meeting the 180-day requirement, would provide less opportunities for teachers to prepare students for standardized tests such as PSSAs and Keystone Exams, he said.

For that reason, the district made up as many snow days as it could by adding back into the school calendar numerous days originally planned as holidays. Students and staff attended school on Feb. 14 and 17, with no break for President’s Day. They have also lost the bulk of their spring break, which originally spanned from April 16 to the 21, but was reduced to a four-day weekend, with only April 18 and 21 scheduled as days off. In addition, a four-day Memorial Day weekend has been chiseled down to three days, with Friday, May 23, added back into the calendar.

And in March, parent-teacher conferences were held after school so that students could attend for two full-days rather than half-days as originally planned.

Christian stressed that the district exceeded the minimal instructional time without requesting the Act 80 exceptions, but would not have met the 180-day requirement.

The board opted to make up snow days throughout the school year rather than add them to the end of the calendar, because “I think those days are more valuable than days in late June,” he said.

“The goal is not to replace instructional time,” he said. “We still want to maximize the amount of time our kids are in school. But it really should be about meaningful minutes.”

About the Author

Laura Catalano is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in books, magazines and newspapers. She is a frequent contributer to The Mercury, for which she writes news, features and a monthly column. She lives in Pottstown and works for the Schuylkill River Heritage Area. Reach the author at LauraC802@aol.com
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